Process op making a combined bottle stopper and syringe



J. MAZOYER ET AL 8 PROCESS OF MAKING A COMBINED BQTTLE STOPPER AND SYRING'E 1 I May 18, 1937.

Filed Aug. 30, 1934 PO. "M QM F Fig. '3.

INVENTOPS LEO/V J. MAZOVER CEC/L JONES BV-WW. I ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 18, we? 2,080,948

PROCESS OF MAKING A COMBINED BOTTLE STOPPER AND SYRINGE Leon J. Mazoyer, Baldwin, N. Y., and Cecil Jones, Red Bank, N. 3., assignors to Whitall Tatum Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application August 30, 1934, Serial No. 742,076

6 Claims. (01. 18-59) Our invention relates to a process for forming Hard rubber-Compound No. 652 articles in which hard and soft rubber are inte- Lbs grally united. More specifically, our invention is I directed to a combined bottle stopper and syringe 21 2 33 1 Sheets g having a bulb and'a seat for a bottle top composed Sulphur 5 of soft rubber and a threaded skirt portion com- Carbsn ggigfiggfil; 1 posed of hard rubber integrally united to the soft Lime eg attempts have been made to devise a Zinc 6121561331?QLEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 21 10 satisfactory combination bottle stopper and 32332 base (tnethyltnmethylenetn' 125 10 syringe. These attempts have not been success- West ag 32'875 ful, however, because the liquids with WhlCh these Cottonseed on devices are employed ordinarily cause rubber to swell, whereby the stopper portion is distorted so 100 5 as to no longer fit the bottle, or the attachment between the dropper and the bulb becomes so disu o torted as to permit the dropper to separate from S It T bb Comp and 651 B the bulb.

' The principal object of our invention is to prosmoked Sheets "T "f vide a combined bottle stopper and syringe in Tnmgne base (tnethyltnmethylenetn' 20 which the defects attending those previously deamme) 5625 vised are eliminated. To this end we have con- Captax (90 percent Ceylon rtlbber structed a combination of the character described t 10 percent mercaptobenzothlazole in which a threaded skirt portion of hard rubber mlxed together) 1875 is integrally connected to a bulb made of soft #1114-A carbon black B 25 rubben ay l Another object of our invention is the provision sulphur '7 2525 of a process for making our improved combination Spec Zmc oxlde stopper and syringe and for making any other Lune *7 4375 object in which hard and soft rubber portions are (aspha1t'l1ke hydrocarbon) 0 integrally united. Rosm 011 We have found that, if certain precautions are Barytes observed, hard and soft rubber can be readily Cured q a united to form an integral body. To accomplish West Whltmg 9'6875 this, we employ two difierent vulcanizable compo- 5 sitions, one for the soft rubber portion and the other for the hard rubber portion. The essential If uayule is not employed the quantity of difierence between he mp i is their smoked sheets must be considerably increased and r pec Contents of sulphur- Fer the Soft the smoked sheets must be finely ground. Other I 40 b COmPOSitiOII We p y Sligh y more Sulphur fillers than those mentioned can be employed and 40 t an s c t a y employed fell the formation the accelerator specified can be replaced by other o a soft r bb vuleanizeile fer the purpese heresubstances known to be useful in this capacity.

inafter specified. For the hard rubber composi- The two compositions are of a dough-like conio W p y the quantity of Sulphur Whieh is sistency. They can be joined together by first cus o y emp y for making herd rubber being subjected to pressure at a temperature 45 vulcan ates- The quantity 0f Sulphur p y sufficient to efiect the vulcanization of the soft in each Composition will vary depn i s 0n the rubber composition. Suificient heat for this purother ingredients of the composition and can be pose can be supplied by steam introduced int r d y ascertained y w experiments with any jackets around the press chamber. After this desired composition. treatment the hard rubber composition is softer The following specific compositions have been than the soft rubber composition. The joined found to be particularly suitable. These specific body can be then subjected to the action of live examples are not to be taken as definitive of the steam whereupon the hard rubber composition is scope of our invention but illustrative of one vulcanized. It is in order to prevent the soft rubspecific embodiment of our invention. ber vulcanizate from becoming tacky by the action 55 of this live steam that the slight excess of sulphur is employed in the soft rubber composition.

The application of our process to the manufacture of a combined bottle stopper and syringe will be apparent from the following detailed description of the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the skirt molding portion of the molding press.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the base of the molding press.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the molding press at the beginning of the molding operation with parts cut away for the sake of clarity.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a blank for forming a bulb.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a blank for forming a threaded skirt portion.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a soft rubber plug which combines with the blank shown in Fig. 4 for forming the bulb.

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of a bottle with the combined stopper and syringe attached and Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the combined bottle stopper and syringe.

Referring to the drawing in detail, I represents the metal base of the pressure mold. 2 is the skirt forming portion of the mold and 3 is the top of the mold. Projecting from the face of member 3 is a threaded cylindrical member 4% which is adapted to pass through a central opening 5 in member 2 and nest in a central depressed portion 6 in member i to form the threaded skirt portion. Projecting from the center of the bottom face of member 41 is a spindle l which is adapted to mate with a recess 8 in member i to form the bulb. The base of spindle I is of reduced diameter and is provided with an annular flange 9, the function of which is to form a circumferential groove near the base of the bulb to receive the flared end of a glass tube. The circumference of the opening 5 in member 2 is pro vided with corrugations til, the ends of which are spaced from either face of member 2. These corrugations are of the utmost importance because in the molding operation they give member 2 a purchase on the skirt portion of the bottle stopper wherebyit is possible to pull the skirt portion off the threaded member 4; otherwise, it would be virtually impossible to remove the skirt portion from said threaded member.

Members 5 and 2 are provided with registering holes H which are adapted to receive pins Ha projecting from the bottom face of member 3 to keep the parts in alignment.

The soft rubber composition defined above, having the consistency of a heavy dough, is fed into a tubing machine to form a tubing having an inside diameter at 5% and an outside diameter It is cut into suitable lengths while on the tubing machine by a circular knife. A further quantity of the soft rubber composition is fed into a tubing machine to form a cord having an outside diameter of -t. This cord is cut up into suitable lengths to form the plugs illustrated in Fig. 6.

The hard rubber composition is fed into a tubing machine and converted into tubing having an inside diameter of and an outside diameter of one inch. Thus the inside diameter of the hard rubber tube is about sufficient to snugly embrace the outside diameter of the soft rubber tube.

The hard and soft rubber tub-es are dusted with zinc stearate so as to slide on each other. The

soft rubber tube 12 is placed over the spindle T with its end abutting the bottom face of cylinder member 4. A hard rubber tube #3 is slipped over the soft rubber tube and placed with its end abutting the bottom face of cylindrical member i. Since the hard rubber composition is to be molded on the cylindrical surface of member 4 one would expect that the hard rubber tube should be placed on this surface. If it were possible to make this tubing of sufficient diameter to snugly embrace the cylindrical surface 4 and to fit it on the surface while the surface is hot, such procedure could be adopted. In practice it is preferable to arrange the tubes in the manner shown. The plug is is dropped into the recess 8. It would be of course preferable to insert the plug in the tube !2, but it is sufficient if it is laid in recess 8 without any particular precautions.

The member 3 of the press is then pressed downwardly until members I, 2 and 3 abut. The press is heated by steam in a conventional manner. At the temperature of the press the hard rubber composition i3 becomes much less viscous than the soft rubber composition. Consequently, the soft rubber composition in the tube l2 and the plug it forces the hard rubber composition upwardly around the surface of cylindrical member Upon the completion of the vulcanization of the soft rubber composition, the rubber in the skirt portion is softer than the rubber in the bulb portion.

At this point it is important to direct attention to the respective sizes of the tubes and the plug. The plug must be exactly the right size. If it is too large it will force the hard rubber composition too high in the mold whereby only a part of the skirt portion will be hard rubber. If it is too small, it will leave blisters and thin portions in the bulb portion. No exact formula can be given to cover every condition. The correct size of the plug and the tubes must be arrived at by experimentation. One particular set of dimensions is a soft rubber tube 1%" long, a hard ruboer tube long and a plug 1%" long with the diameters as specified above.

When the bulb and skirt portions are formed and united in the press they are taken out and cured with live steam. The live steam vulcanizes the hard rubber portion without affecting the soft rubber portion to any noticeable extent.

The finished article is shown in Fig. 8 in which l5 represents the bulb having near its lower end a circumferential groove H3 adapted to receive the flared end El of a glass tube i8. It is to be understood that, instead of a tube, a solid glass rod or a brush may be inserted. The lower end of the bulb i5 is in the form of a solid block $53 which, near its inner diameter, has a depending portion 59 adapted to fit into the neck of a bottle and a flat portion 28 adapted to form a seat for the rim of a neck of a bottle. Integrally united with the portion i8 is a skirt portion 2| bearing on its inside face threads 22 and on its outer face vertical corrugations 23. The skirt portion is customarily made of sufiicient length so that when its thread is fully screwed on the thread of a bottle the rim of the bottle is sealed against the-surface 28. If skirt portion 25 is too short, the pressure exerted on surface 29 by the continued screwing of the skirt portion on the neck of the bottle will tend to separate the soft rubber from the hard rubber.

Having thus described the nature and objects of our invention and illustrated a preferred embodiment of the same, which illustration, however, is not to be taken as definitive of the scope of our invention, what we claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The process of manufacturing articles composed of hard and soft rubber integrally united which comprises composing one part of the body of a composition suitable for vulcanization into soft rubber and containing sulphur slightly in excess of that required for the formation of soft rubber, composing an adjacent portion of the body of a composition suitable for vulcanization into hard rubber, said compositions containing quantities of sulphur and accelerator such that the soft rubber composition becomes completely vulcanized in a substantially shorter period of time than said hard rubber composition, pressing the bodies together under conditions and for a time suitable for substantially completely vulcanizing the soft rubber composition, removing the same from the press and then subjecting the joined portions to conditions suitable for completing the vulcanization of the hard rubber composition.

2. The process of manufacturing articles composed of hard and soft rubber integrally united which comprises composing one part of the body of a composition suitable for vulcanization into soft rubber and containing sulphur slightly in excess of that required for the formation of soft rubber, composing an adjacent portion of the body of a composition suitable for vulcanization into hard rubber, said compositions containing quantities of sulphur and accelerator such that the soft rubber composition becomes completely vulcanized in a substantially shorter period of time than said hard rubber composition, applying zinc stearate to the surfaces to be joined, pressing the bodies together under conditions and for a time suitable for substantially completely vulcanizing the soft rubber composition, removing the same from the press and then subjecting the joined portions to conditions suitable for completing the vulcanization of the hard rubber composition.

3. The process of manufacturing a combined bottle stopper and syringe having a bulb, a seat portion and a threaded skirt portion, which comprises molding the bulb and seat portion of a composition suitable for vulcanization into soft rubber, molding the skirt portion of a composition suitable for vulcanization into hard rubber, said compositions containing quantities of sulphur and accelerator such that the soft rubber composition becomes completely vulcanized in a substantially shorter period of time than said hard rubber composition, pressing the two portions together under conditions and for a time suitable for substantially completely vulcanizing the soft rubber composition, removing the same from the press and then subjecting the joined portions to conditions suitable for completing the vulcanization of the hard rubber composition.

4. The process of manufacturing a combined bottle stopper and syringe having a bulb, a seat portion and a threaded skirt portion which comprises molding the bulb and seat portion of a composition suitable for vulcanization into soft rubber and containing sulphur slightly in excess of that required for the formation of soft rubber, molding the skirt portion of a composition suitable for vulcanization into hard rubber, said compositions containing quantities of sulphur and accelerator such that the soft rubber composition becomes completely vulcanized in a substantially shorter period of time than said hard rubber composition, pressing the two portions together under conditions and for a time suitable for substantially completely vulcanizing the soft rubber composition, removing the same from the press and then subjecting the joined portions to conditions suitable for completing the vulcani zation of the hard rubber composition.

5. The process of manufacturing articles composed of hard and soft rubber integrally united which comprises composing one part of the body of a composition suitable for vulcanization into soft rubber, composing the adjacent portion of the body of a composition suitable for vulcanization into hard rubber, said compositions containing quantities of sulphur and accelerator such that said soft rubber composition becomes completely vulcanized in a substantially shorter period of time than said hard rubber composition, pressing the bodies together and subjecting the same to heat for a time suitable for substantially completely vulcanizing the soft rubber, removing the same from the press and subjecting the bodies to live steam for a time sufficient to vulcanize the hard rubber.

6. The process of manufacturing articles composed of hard and soft rubber integrally united which comprises composing one part of the body of substantially the following composition:-

Percentage Smoked sheets 30.

Trimene base (triethyltrimethylenetriamine) .5625 Captax per cent Ceylon rubber and 10 per cent mercaptobenzothiazole mixed together) .1875 Carbon black 4.

Guayule 2. Sulphur 2.625 Zinc oxide 3.5 Lime .4375 M. R. X. (asphalt-like hydrocarbon) 3. Rosin oil 1. Barytes 18. Cured scrap 25. West whiting; 9.6875

composing the other part of the body of substantially the following composition:-

pressing the bodies together while applying heat sufficient to completely vulcanize the first composition into soft rubber, removing the same from the press and subjecting the same to steam for a period of time to completely vulcanize the second composition into hard rubber.

LEON J. MAZOYER. CECIL JONES. 

